Short Interest in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Decreases By 5.4%

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 66,350,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 70,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GERN shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,109,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its position in Geron by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 461.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 79,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 65,687 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Geron by 10,151.4% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,029,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,510 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Geron by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,067,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,339,000 after acquiring an additional 231,178 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of GERN stock opened at $3.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.28 and a beta of 0.51. Geron has a 12-month low of $1.64 and a 12-month high of $5.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.06 and a 200-day moving average of $4.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Geron

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.